The marine-toxic ingredients contained in personal care products enter the ocean when, for example, they wash off the user during a shower, as well as via excretion, since some of them pass into the body and then out again into sewage.

The coral reefs around the Turks & Caicos Islands are a major tourist attraction, and Mark Parrish is trying to make sure the visitors he takes there don’t kill them with cosmetics.

One of the perks of being a Californian is that Hawaii is a quick, often affordable getaway: Without the need to escape frosty weather, we’re free to visit during summer, when the surf lays down flat and the price of hotel rooms plummets.

Still navigating store aisles can be difficult. Environmental Working Group researchers have evaluated hundreds of safety studies and thousands of ingredient labels to bring you our top recommendations for what not to buy.

Learn about a few of the top ingredients and contaminants to avoid, based on the science linking each to adverse health impacts, and the types of products they’re found in. To learn more about how chemicals impact your health and where they come from, check out the Health & Science section.

The beauty industry has an ugly secret: Most skin care products contain harmful chemicals that could potentially harm your health, and even make aging worse. Your makeup, face cream, skin moisturizer, or cleanser may deliver short-term smoothness and brightness, but it also may disrupt your hormones, expose you to cancer-causing chemicals, and deliver dangerous toxins that age your skin.